ClueBy
TodayArchiveWord list

Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
YesNo
↻ New worksheet

Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. rush — hurry
  3. perch — the fish
  4. capital — a city
  5. roll — a cake
  6. last — final
  7. lean — thin
  8. pit — a hole
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. roll — a list
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. capital — money
  14. lean — to bend
  15. land — ground
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. pit — in a race
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. last — to go on
  21. land — a country
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. last — finally

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com